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CHRISTOPHER GADSDEN. 



By 
E. I. RENICK. 



.[From Publications of Southern History Association, 
July, 1898.] 



Harrisburg, Pa.: 
Harrisburg Publishing Company, 






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CHRISTOPHER GADSDEN. 
By E. I. Renick. 

It is not so much Christopher Gadsden's achievements as 
his virtues and his influence that attract the attention of his- 
torians, and win for him the reverence and affection of ail 
capable of appreciating patriotism. His character has been 
well portrayed by his old friend, Dr. David Ramsay, by Mr. 
George Bancroft, and by Mr. F. A. Porcher. Mr. Ban- 
croft's well-known eulogy closes with a command to all who 
rejoice in the union of the colonies to name this unwavering 
lover of his country as well as James Otis, whenever they 
count up those who "above others contributed to the great 
result." What manner of man was this South Carolinian 
who is thus classed with the inspired "madman" of Massa- 
chusetts? 

Doctor Ramsay,* who was closely associated with him in 
private and public affairs for thirty years, gives an account of 
his life which has been relied upon by later historians. "Mr. 
Gadsden," he tells us, "had naturally a strong love for inde- 
pendence. He was born a republican. Under well ordered 
government he was a good subject, but could not brook the 
encroachments of any man or body of men intrenching on 
his rights. * * * When the British began their projects \ 
for abridging the privileges of the colonies Mr. Gadsden was 
among the first to take fire. * * * He descried inde- 
pendence when it was afar off, and early foresaw that such 
was the nature of man that America could never be governed 
with an exclusive or even a preferable view to her own in- 
terest while the fountain of power was three thousand miles 
distant. He had correct ideas of the rights of man and of 

* History oj South Carolina, ii, 457 et seq. 

Gift, 



Ct. (L VYV<i/ 5L*A^a>VvCuvw 



Christopher Gadsden. — Renick. 243 

the representative system long before Mr. Paine wrote on 
the subject. * * * His passions were strong and re- 
quired all his religion and philosophy to curb them. His 
patriotism was both disinterested and ardent. He declined 
all offices of profit and through life refused to take the com- 
pensations annexed by law to such offices of trust as were 
conferred on him. His character was impressed with the 
hardihood of antiquity; and he possessed an erect, firm, in- 
trepid mind which was well calculated for buffetting with 
revolutionary storms." 

Mr. Bancroft, who was familiar with Gadsden's career and 
had collected some of his papers, declares that "he was a 
man of deep and clear convictions, thoroughly sincere, of an 
unbending will and a sturdy, impetuous integrity. * * * 
He had not only that courage which defies danger, but that 
invincible persistence which neither peril nor imprisonment, 
nor the threat of death can shake. Full of religious faith, 
and at the same time inquisitive and tolerant; methodical, 
and yet lavish of his fortune for public ends, he had in his 
nature nothing vacillating or low and knew not how to hesi- 
tate or to feign."* 

In Mr. Porcher's charming and scholarly Memoir of Chris- 
topher Gadsden, read in 1876 before the South Carolina His- 
torical Society, f he is described as "a man who could not 
bend from the dictate of principle to that of policy, and could 
therefore be neither a good party leader, nor even a good 
party man. He followed always the impulse of incorrupti- 
ble honesty, and was the impersonation of the most exalted 
chivalry. Fear and favor were alike foreign to his ,nature. 
* * * Enthusiastic even to rashness in the cause of 
American Independence, his capacious heart beat as keenly 
for the wrongs of Massachusetts as for the insults to Caro- 
lina. He served his whole country with his whole heart." 

* History of the U. S., v., 293'4' 5 . It is gratifying to observe tha^ 
" in the author's last revision " (1883) this characterization remains 
unmodified. See iii, 121. 

t Published in Charleston, 1878, by authority of the Society. 



244 Southern History Association. 

The details of the life of such a man cannot but be interest- 
ing. He was born in "Charlestown," South Carolina, in 
1724. His father — Thomas — is said to have been a lieuten- 
ant in the Royal Navy and the King's Collector for the Port 
of Charlestown.* It is said that Christopher was sent to 
school near Bristol, England, before he was sixteen years of 
age, and that there he became a favorite with his father's 
relatives, the Gascoigns, Halls and Gadsdens. At school he 
learned Latin, Greek and French.f 

Mr. Oliver R. Johnson, the Vice and Deputy Con- 
sul General of the United States at London, had the kindness 
to make inquiries at the Public Record office of that city, 
where the admiralty and other records previous to the year 
1800 are kept, and found that Lieut. Thomas Gadsden 
was not in the Royal Navy, but in the merchant service, and 
was placed on half pay from the 27th to 30th of June, 1722 — 
four days only — the amount being paid to his attorney, Ed- 
ward Jasper, after which date there appears to be no further 
trace of him.jf 

Our Consul General at London — Mr. John C. New — -also 
obtained from an antiquarian of Hertford, England, much 
valuable information concerning the family of Gadsden, || but 
nothing was definitely ascertained about Christopher's fa- 
ther. 

A simple stone in St. Philip's church yard in Charleston 
bears the inscription: "Here lie the remains of Thomas and 
Elizabeth Gadsden and of many of their descendants. She 
died in March, 1727; he in August, 1741." 

It is related by Dr. Joseph Johnson in his Traditions 

* Ramsay, Porcher, Joseph Johnson's Traditions of the Revolution. 

t Ramsay and Joseph Johnson. 

If Mr. Johnson to Mr. Wharton, No. 97, September 12, 1890, MSS. 
Department of State. 

|| Mr. New to Mr. Wharton, No. 126, December 5, 1890, MSS. De- 
partment of State. 



Christopher Gadsden. — Renick. 245 

that Thomas Gadsden lost a large sum of money about the 
year 1733, gaming with Lord Anson, and paid the debt by 
giving him titles to all those lands which afterwards bore the 
name of "Ansonborough." 

Lord Anson did sail for South Carolina in 1723 or 1724, 
and remained there until 1730, and his biographer* says "it is 
not impossible that while on this station he may have pos- 
sessed some property, either by purchase or by grant," as his 
name was given to certain districts. 

We have a copy of a letter, however, written by Mrs. John- 
son of South Carolina at the time of his visit describing the 
Admiral as "really so old-fashioned as to make some profes- 
sion of religion;" "moreover," she adds, "he never dances, 
nor swears nor talks nonsense. "f It used to be said of Lord 
Anson that "he had been round the world but never in it." 
The tradition of the Gadsden family is that Christopher, who 
could not have been more than five or six years of age when 
this alleged loss occurred and who was but seventeen when 
his father died, regarded this valuable land as having been 
gambled away and determined to regain by purchase every 
foot of it — a resolve which was carried out. 

After service in a counting house in Philadelphia and as 
a purser, Christopher Gadsden devoted himself to the mer- 
cantile business in Charleston in which he achieved success. 
He was occupied as a merchant, a factor and a planter ap- 
parently without much interruption for twenty years. In 
1759 he was captain of an artillery company in the expedition 
against the Cherokees, and in 1760 he began his political 
career as a member of the Commons House of Assembly 
of the Province of South Carolina. It was here in 1762 
that he was the cause of the first serious difficulty between 
the Royal Governor and the representatives of the people.^ 

* Barrows' Lije oj Anson, pp. 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 398. 
f Barrows. 

\ Gadsden preserved full minutes of the high-handed conduct of 
Governor Boone on this occasion. 



/' 



246 Southern History Association. 

Governor Boone refused to consider Gadsden properly 
elected and dissolved the House for contumacy. The quar- 
rel ended in the recall of Boone. No other Governor in that 
Province ever attempted to control popular elections. It 
was this interference with the election of Christopher Gads- 
den that first aroused South Carolinians to a jealous watch- 
fulness of their public rights. Feelings of hatred and dis- 
trust then provoked were to grow more bitter in a year or 
two when Great Britain assumed to tax and govern the 
Colonies in all cases whatever, and Christopher Gadsden, 
upon whom the Royal Governor attempted to cast indigni- 
ties, was to stand for the most decisive and energetic 
measures.* 

There can be little doubt that this habitual contempt with 
which American gentlemen were treated whenever they had 
official intercourse with British civil and military officers was 
a potent cause for resistance in 1765.! 

Americans at this time were proud of their strength and 
sensible of their importance to Britain and they meant to 
guard their liberties. "Some of these Colonists," says an old 
historian,^ "even inherited a natural aversion to monarchy 
from their forefathers, and on all occasions discovered a 
strong tendency towards a republican form of government, 
both in Church and State. "This tendency was particularly 
strong among a people like the South Carolinians of that 
day, prosperous, and well educated. Many of them — Gads- 
den among the number — had been students at English 
schools and had learned "to set a just estimate on their own 
talents and *«quirements."|| 

* The controversy with Boone is given in Johnson's Traditions, p. 
5. A printed statement of it was preserved for many years bj' Gads- 
den's family. The proceedings of the House were printed by its 
order in the South Carolina Gazette. 

t Porcher. 

If Hewat's South Carolina and Georgia (1779) ii., 308, 309. 

|| See on this subject Johnson's Life of Greene, i., 256; Tudor's 
Otis, 245. 



Christopher Gadsden. — Renick. 247 

They did not, perhaps, think more highly of themselves 
than they ought to have thought when they looked down 
upon this swarm of placemen — those eighteenth century car- 
pet-baggers who were continually playing such fantastic 
tricks before high heaven. England foisted upon the 
colonial establishments men whom the Government could 
not provide for at home. "This cause," said Mr. Gerry on 
August 6, 1789, in the United States House of Representa- 
tives, "lost them America," and he added, "this cause will 
lose them every dependency where they attempt to play the 
like game."* Great Britain long since stopped playing this 
game. 

Massachusetts had her Bernard as South Carolina had her 
Boone. Mr. Tudor, speaking of the "ungracious, impolitic 
and offensive" manner in which the former submitted a cer- 
tain resolution, says:f 

"His speeches exemplify in full force the humiliating ten- 
ure of colonial existence where a mere vulgar placeman apes 
the tone of the sovereign he represents; and inflated with his 
transient favor, exercises his representative sovereignty with 
mock dignity that is not relieved by the graceful conscious- 
ness of original power. * * * It is much better to be 
near the center, where the power is generally the most toler- 
ant and relaxed, and where, if there is arrogance, it is the ac- 
companiment of real majesty; while in the distant provinces, 
a delegated authority becomes more rigid, more relentless 
and more offensive from being in the hands of subaltern and 
often servile agents." 

Gadsden had been impressed by this arrogance. His 
friend Middleton — a provincial officer — had come into con- 
flict with Col. James Grant of the "regulars" in the Chero- 
kee war of 1761. A bitter quarrel ensued — an encounter in 
which Grant is said to have been struck by Middleton with 
a cane, and finally a duel between the two officers. Gadsden 

* Annals of Congress, 1 : 681. 
t Life of Otis, p. 245. 



248 Southern History Association. 

carefully preserved the correspondence relating to the con- 
troversy.* 

This incident occasioned intense excitement in Charles- 
ton. Its inhabitants came to entertain bitter feelings to- 
wards the mother country, and they were soon led to a de- 
fiance of British authority. 

No man in America strove more earnestly to bring about 
the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 than Gadsden, and none 
was subsequently more strenuous than he in its support. 
His speeches in the Assembly in its favor — though not 
splendid specimens of oratory — were so energetic that he 
carried the House with him. He spoke to those "who have 
ever been jealous of interference with their affairs, of mani- 
festations of external power, and of anything like oppres- 
sion."! 

As early as this — certainly a year later — Gadsden was 
looking forward to a separation from Great Britain. He had 
been one of the Assembly in September, 1764, to support the 
resolutions signed by Peter Manigault, Speaker, and ordered 
to be printed, "that they might be transmitted to posterity." 
These were subsequently incorporated in the "declaration of 
the rights and the grievances of the Colonies" agreed to at 
New York.fl Now he was one of the three from the only 
southern colony save Maryland represented at this first 
American Congress. || It was here he asserted his broad na- 
tional sentiments. "There ought to be," he said, "no New 

* Still in existence in a MSS. volume entitled South Carolina 
Miscellan. It comprises letters from Governor Bull to Middle- 
ton January 10 and March 31, 1761. Middleton to Grant July 10 and 
19, 1761, Grant to Middleton July 10, 1761, and Governor Bull to 
Grant April 10, 1761. 

t Lodge's Short History oj the Colonies, p. 171. 

\ Compare Hewat, ii., 321 ; and Niles' Principles and Acts of the 
Revolution, p. 163. Hewat is reprinted in Carroll's Hist. Coll. S. 
C, i. See p. 526. 

|| It ought to be remembered that South Carolina took this step 
toward Continental Union before it was agreed to by any Colony 
south of New England. 



Christopher Gadsden. — Renick. 249 

England man, no New Yorker known on this Continent, but 
all of us Americans."* It was not until September 6, 1774, 
that Patrick Henry used somewhat similar language. The 
representatives of nine colonies then in Congress practically 
founded the American union, for the example of federation 
then set was never forgotten. "The leaders on the floor 
were Gadsden and Rutledge, of South Carolina, and Otis, 
of Massachusetts. Under the lead of South Carolina the 
arguments founded on chartered privileges were laid aside 
and the broad doctrines of inalienable rights and liberties 
were adopted."! This was Christopher Gadsden's distinc- 
tive contribution to the deliberations of that Assembly.^ 
Mr. Hosmer says that "no public man saw as soon as Sam- 
uel Adams that in the latter half of the eighteenth century 
the time for it [an independent empire in the western world] 
had come;" and again, "seven years before the Declaration 
of Independence, nor long after, was there a man except 
Samuel Adams who looked forward to it and worked for it."|| 

* Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, p. 188, which consult for an 
account of Gadsden. See p. 182. 

t Lodge's Short History of the Enghsh Colonies, 311. See on 
this subject Woodburn's Causes of the American Revolution, Johns 
Hopkins Univ. Studies, X Series, xii, p. 44. 

\ Mr. Frothingham also mentions Robert Livingston of New York 
as taking this ground. As to the advantages of this Congress see 
Tudor's Otis, pp. 234-5. There was doubtless much subsequent cor- 
respondence between Gadsden and those whom he met at New York 
in 1765 — especially with Samuel Adams. See his letter to one of 
them — Wm. S. Johnson, of Connecticut, dated April 16, 1766, in 
Historical Magazine, v., 260. Ramsay says he was the constant cor- 
respondent of Samuel Adams. Gadsden's letter to Charles Garth, 
agent in London of the Colony of South Carolina, dated December 
2, 1765, printed in Gibbes's Doc. Hist, of the Am. Rev., i., 7, contains 
a full report of what the Assembly had done in the common cause to 
promote the agreements of the Stamp Act Congress. It is full of 
Union sentiments. In it he doubtless repeats many of the observa- 
tions he made in the Congress. 

|| Life of Samuel Adams, 372. 



250 Southern History Association. 

But Gadsden had spoken for independence in 1764 to his 
friends under Liberty Tree and renewed the subject in 1766. 
In the Provincial Assembly of South Carolina on the tenth 
day of February, 1776, he also advocated independence of 
Great Britain.* Mr. Hosmer justly includes him with R. H. 
Lee, Patrick Henry, and a few others, as "ready for inde- 
pendence" as early as September, 1775-t 

Few facts are better atteste 1 than that Christopher Gads- 
den, when the Charleston community was in ecstasy over the 
repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766, convened a party of his 
friends — their names are well known, recorded by the faith- 
ful Gibbesj[ — and urged them not to relax their opposition 
and vigilance, declaring that Great Britain would never re- 
linquish her designs or pretensions. Reviewing all the 
chances of succeeding in a struggle to break the fetters when- 
ever again imposed he pressed them to prepare their minds 
for the event. 1 1 

Did Samuel Adams or any one else speak earlier for inde- 
pendence? Doctor Ramsay, who was a part of the revolu- 
tionary forces, admits that prior to 1776 a reconciliation with 
Great Britain was the wish of almost every American, but 
he excepts "Christopher Gadsden in the South and John 
Adams in the North."** 

In July, 1774, a large number of gentlemen from almost 
every part of the Colony met in Charleston to consider what 

* Johnson's Traditions, 41. See account of his rupture with Dray- 
ton on this subject in 2 Drayton's Memoirs, 172, 

f Hosmer's Samuel Adams, 340. 

f Documentary History. It is an interesting fact that the great 
majority of these were mechanics, carpenters, painters, saddlers, 
blacksmiths, &c. 

|| Johnson's Life of Greene, i., 266, foot note. See foot note, p. 
265, for description of two parties in South Carolina desiring a re- 
dress of grievances. The radical wing, of which Gadsden was the 
leader, "used all pretexts to press for absolute independence or a 
state approaching to a confederation." 

** Historv of South Carolina, i., 287. 



Christopher Gadsden. — Renick. 251 

action should be taken in view of the annulment of the char- 
ter of Massachusetts and the closing of the port of Boston. 
They chose representatives to the Congress at Philadelphia. 
Christopher Gadsden, Thomas Lynch and Edward Rutledge 
—who at this time were anxious for independence and de- 
sired a general non-importation and non-exportation agree- 
ment—were among those elected, though the mercantile in- 
terest generally was opposed to their principles. It was in 
this Congress that Gadsden advocated an immediate attack 
upon Gage in order to defeat him before he could secure re- 
inforcements. It was here that this disinterested patriot, 
though all his life engaged in commerce, withstood his asso- 
ciates who wished in the interests of South Carolina to except 
rice and indigo from the general non-exportation agreement. 
He had just finished a large wharf in Charleston at great 
cost, and his hope of reimbursement would be dashed to the 
ground if trade were suspended, but this did not deter him 
from urging a complete severance of all commercial rela- 
tions with Great Britain. It was in this Congress that he 
uttered that most worthy and memorable sentiment which 
historians have delighted to record. Timid members had 
mentioned the alarming dangers to which our coast cities 
were subjected. 

"Our seaport towns, Mr. President," replied Gadsden, 
"are composed of brick and wood; if they are destroyed we 
have clay and timber enough to rebuild them. But if the 
liberties of our country are destroyed where shall we find 
the material to replace them."* Mr. William Wirt Henry, 
repeating this speech, exclaims: "This unselfish man was 
one of the most determined and unflinching of the patriots. "f 
Mr. Porcher records a speech of Gadsden in the Assembly 
of South Carolina which illustrates his hot impetuosity, his 
astonishing earnestness that ignored all forms and cere- 
monies. Another instance may be cited. 

* Elliott's, The New England History, ii., 288. 
t Henry's Life of Patrick Henry, i., 229, note. 



252 Southern History Association. 

When it was provided by Parliamentary bill that the trade 
of Boston might be recovered on proper apology and upon 
payment for the tea destroyed, Gadsden sent a generous con- 
tribution to the distressed people of that town with the terse 
injunction, "Don't pay for an ounce of the damned tea."* 

Not only did he speak and vote for a suspension of com- 
mercial relations, but he was "uncommonly active" in after- 
wards enforcing the prohibitory laws, "though few men lost 
more by them than he did."f 

Gadsden served in the Congress of 1775 and in that of 
1776. But he was called home to assume command of all 
the South Carolina troops before the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was drawn. It was a life-long regret with him that 
he was thus prevented from signing that famous instrument. 
Had he remained a few months longer he would now no 
doubt be found among the various "Worthies" and "Makers 
of America" and "Statesmen" to whom series of volumes are 
devoted. 

February 10, 1776, was a memorable day in the Provincial 
Congress of South Carolina. Gadsden, who was there to 
receive its thanks for his services at Philadelphia, was added 
to the committee to consider the resolve of the Continental 
Congress respecting a form of government. 

Many members opposed it — some because it was too de- 
cisive a measure, others because their powers did not war- 
rant such a step. 

"On this occasion, Colonel Gadsden (having brought the 
first copy of Paine's pamphlet, 'Common Sense') boldly 
declared himself not only in favor of the form of government, 
but for the absolute independence of America."j[ 

This was like a thunder clap. The majority had no 
thought of such aspirations. John Rutledge, one of the 

* Bryant's Pop. Hist., iii., 376. 

t Ramsay. 

X 2 Drayton's Memoirs, 172, 173. 



Christopher Gadsden. — Renick. 253 

supporters of the Revolution, rose in reproof, declaring he 
would ride day and night to Philadelphia to assist in re- 
uniting Great Britain and America.* The few who ap- 
proved the idea thought Gadsden very imprudent in thus 
suddenly declaring for it. 

Gadsden rose to be a brigadier general and threw up his 
commission on August 23, 1777, owing to some question 
of rank arising between him and General Howe, with whom 
he later fought a bloodless duel.f 

He continued to serve in the Assembly and the Privy 
Council and in 1779 and 1780 actively prepared to repel the 
invasions of the State by the British. 

When Prevost, in May, 1779, summoned the town of 
Charleston to surrender, the civil authorities proposed to I 
stipulate for a neutrality during the war. This proposal was 
not made known to General Moultrie, the military com- 
mandant, and it .was in violation of his rights. Gadsden — 
a member of the Council — voted against the proposal, and, 
though the deliberations of this body were required to be 
kept secret, he did not hesitate to communicate to certain 
citizens that such a measure had been decided on. It was 
resolved that the lives of its advocates should atone for the 
disgrace. This determination became known to the Coun- 
cil, and the negotiation was then referred where it should 
have gone in the first instance, to Moultrie, who said, "I will 
then save the city."J[ 

General Gadsden was Lieutenant Governor of South Car- 
olina when the city of Charleston capitulated in 1780. He 
and othersjf were taken to a British garrison at St. Augus- 
tine. Refusing to give his parole, he was placed in solitary 

* Johnson's Traditions, 41. 
t Fully described by Mr. Porcher. 
|| Johnson's Life of Greene, i., 272. 

If Johnson in his Traditions and Hough in The Siege of Charles- 
ton, p. 203, give their names. 



254 Southern History Association. 

confinement in a castle for ten months.* In 1782 the Jack- 
sonborough Legislature elected him Governor, but pleading 
his thirty years' public service and his infirmities, he asked 
to be allowed to decline the arduous trust. On one mem- 
orable occasion alone after this he took part in public affairs. 
With unspeakable delight he took his seat in 1788 in the 
convention which ratified the Constitution of the United 
States. 

He had always been a friend of efficient government, and 
many times during and after the war he feared that the in- 
dependent Americans would form different confederacies. 
He dreaded as one of the greatest political evils that could 
befall his country the return to the royal government. At 
last he who had by his exertions in 1765 made possible the 
American Union, aided in 1788 in ratifying a Constitution 
meant to make it more perfect. 

Well might he exclaim, "Lord, now lettest thou thy ser- 
vant depart in peace." 

He died, having passed his eighty-first year, and was 
buried with honor by the State Society of the American 
Revolution and the Society of the Cincinnati. He made 
no memorable orations, signed no renowned documents, won 
no distinguished battles; but no citizen of America ever en- 
gaged more zealously and unselfishly for so long a time in 
the service of the Union. 

On one occasion, in a letter to the Honorable Thomas 
Bee, dated October 5, 1778, it became necessary for Gadsden 
to refer to his own public services and to his aspirations : 

"I have had," he said, "without asking or soliciting any 
man's vote directly or indirectly, the honour to serve my 
country for many years in various stations, always totally 
devoted to that particular post occasionally allotted to me; 
never quitting it while the least hopes remained of having 
that necessary support the station required: — Zealous and 

* Gadsden described his treatment while in confinement in a letter 
to Washington dated August io, 1781. 



Christopher Gadsden. — Renick. 255 

attentive in all to the honour of the publick and their nearest 
concern: unbiased either by friend or foe, intimidated by 
none: constantly attending to my duty * * * and if I 
now towards the close of a long, disinterested and laborious 
service ask any favor * * * let it be to be looked upon 
as a citizen detesting licentiousness and totally devoted to 
the cause of equal constitutional liberty, religious and civil 
to all, Governors and governed, and having not a desire for 
himself or family in these respects that he does not from the 
bottom of his soul wish for every honest man in the State 
and indeed in all the world."* 

* An appreciative sketch of Gadsden appears in ex-Gov. B. F. 
Perry's Biographical Sketches of Eminent American Statesmen 
(1887), pp. 264-269. 



r 




011 698 215 8 



